A few colleagues and I have recently attended a couple of networking events centred around social media and I’ve noticed a worrying trend. On each of these occasions our expectations have been high, however, each time we have been confronted by seemingly talentless, inarticulate individuals with mediocre offerings and social media suggestions that go no further than the blindingly obvious.
Is this what comes to mind when you think of Social Media?
This highlights one of the drawbacks of the democratisating effect of social media, as it seems to provide a platform for people whose egos far exceed their talent and capability. The relative novelty of social media marketing grants further license to these individuals as their indulgent self-delusion can be taken as gospel by the gullible and the uninformed who are desperate to be told what to do with this ‘next big thing’ medium.
This kind of thing can seriously damage the social media marketing sphere, as the medium is incredibly exciting, dynamic and effective when done right, but if business leaders see these charlatans as representative of the social media marketing community as a whole, getting a budget for the latest great social campaign will become that bit harder.
No, not those Charlatans (90s pop culture reference)
Perhaps this isn’t something to get too concerned about though, as it is only a matter of time before enough people are sufficiently clued up to social media, to see though the hollow act of the social media pretender. I just wish they’d hurry up so I don’t have to cringe my way through another social media “guru’s” irrelevant, nonsensical ramblings.
